Professor Carina Black
Academic and Professional Career Carina started her academic career at Hogwarts like so many others, 11 years old and carefree. Aged one year younger than Ginevra Weasley, Carina narrowly missed the encounters with the Basilisk at Hogwarts. She was sorted into Slytherin, a revelation her mother was surprised, but not put off, by. She progressed quickly in many of her classes, laying as low as possible and kept herself under the radar. In her third year, she was scouted for Umbridge's "Inquisitorial Squad", but refused, and joined Dumbledore's Army instead. During her fifth year, the changes to the faculty at Hogwarts provided an odd situation. Her mother decided to return to the school as a potions teacher, to ensure the safety of her daughter white Hogwarts was under Severus Snape's jurisdiction. The same year, at age 15, she was evacuated during the First Battle of Hogwarts as she was too young to be allowed to participate. Her mother fought after making sure her daughter was safe. After the battle was over and things returned to a peaceful state, she finished her last two years of school and left almost immediately afterwards. She received a Magizoology apprenticeship in Romania through her Care of Magical Creatures professors Rubeus Hagrid and Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank. She only returned to Hogwarts by request of her mother. History Childhood Carina grew up only hearing stories of her father, from both her mother (who refused to believe anything but his innocence), and people who believed him to be guilty. This gave her a confusing set of morals from a young age, as she received conflicting advice from her primary caregiver. This is one of the reasons she became interested in researching some of the more dangerous magical beasts, believing that they may not be guilty of all they are accused of. Other than the fact that her father was an accused and imprisoned murderer, Carina grew up relatively normally. Her mother made sure to expose her to all aspects of both Muggle and Wizarding worlds, to make sure she was not biased either way. She began showing her first signs of magic around the age of four, conversing with the family's ancient Grey Owl the Captain and her mother's white cat Ariadne. This ability delighted Elethia, until Carina revealed that the Captain thought Elethia's favourite shirt was dreadfully ugly. She burned the shirt and ignored the Captain's desperate squawks after she temporarily turned him into a coat hanger. First Year at Hogwarts The day her father escaped from Azkaban was also the exact date of her eleventh birthday, a coincidence Sirius hadn't actually known of at the time. She was immediately bullied upon her arrival at Hogwarts, as news had traveled fast that one of the new first-years was the daughter of the most recently escaped alleged murderer. Her being sorted into Slytherin did nothing to alleviate the bullying, though many other Slytherins took her under their wing. She also befriended fellow Slytherin Athena Lilliana. After Sirius' escape on the back of the Hippogriff Buckbeak, he had a letter delivered to Elethia. They then met up, Elethia revealing Carina as his daughter as he had been arrested before she had discovered her pregnancy. Carina, while initially wary of her father, warmed up to him over the course of that summer, as they spent time with him overseas in the tropics, away from the Ministry's jurisdiction. Murder of Her Maternal Grandfather After spending most of the summer in tropical paradise, Elethia and Carina returned to London. Upon their arrival, they received news Elethia's father, Antares Travers, had been kidnapped for ransom. After fulfilling all of the ransom demands, Elethia met up with the kidnappers to make the exchange. Unbeknownst to her, Carina had hitched a ride in the trunk of the station wagon her mother used as transportation, believing that she could be of some help. Unfortunately, it was revealed that the kidnappers never wanted the ransom money, and merely wanted to make an example of Antares, as he continually refused to join the ranks of the Death Eaters. They murdered Antares in cold-blood, a horrified Elethia hearing Carina's screams from the backseat as her grandfather crumpled lifelessly to the ground. The kidnappers disapparated and left the wailing mother and daughter with Antares' corpse. Elethia tripled the amount of protection charms on their house that night. Second Year at Hogwarts The next year, when Harry Potter's name was chosen from the Goblet of Fire and his scar began hurting again, Sirius moved into a cave near Hogsmeade to keep an eye on things. It was here that Carina and her father truly bonded, as she spent many of her free hours in the cave, studying or otherwise. She would rant about Quidditch, her classes, her professors (as her mother was not allowed to teach her, Snape was her Potions professor), and whatever she felt like talking about that day. After the Triwizard Tournament had ended with Cedric Diggory's death and Voldemort's resurrection, her father warned her to stay under the radar of more vocal and influential Pure-Blood families, such as the Malfoys, a warning, Carina pointed out, that would be difficult to heed. With her being the only Black heir, and a Slytherin to boot, she would have to purposefully avoid those families, as they would most definitely seek her out to try and get her to join them. However, she tried her best. Third Year at Hogwarts Her third year at Hogwarts began with happiness. The reformation of the Order of the Phoenix came with more opportunities to meet with her father, who had been reunited with his old friends and relocated to 12 Grimmauld Place. Unfortunately, even though they were invited, Elethia refused to move into the house. She knew the Ministry had been keeping a close eye on her after Sirius' escape, and did not want anyone using the house to be exposed by the commotion her relocation would cause. Sirius originally argued this fact, but eventually conceded after he realized he would possibly have put his friends and family in even more unnecessary danger. That did not mean he was happy in the home, and turned to intense drinking as a way to cope. On a visit to Grimmauld Place with Carina, Elethia nearly jinxed him after an intense argument about his budding alcoholism. The fight eventually resulted in tears on all ends, and both parents made a promise to try harder. Carina witnessed the whole disaster and nearly blew a hole the wall in a bout of accidental emotional magic. After "Dumbledore's Army" was created, Carina signed up almost immediately. Some of the other members were wary of her, but the students who knew of the Order recognized her position as Sirius' daughter and said nothing ill of her. She was also approached by Umbridge to join her barbaric "Inquisitorial Squad", but refused. Her Father's Death While Harry Potter was trying to get to the Ministry as fast as possible to "save" Sirius, Carina knew nothing of the task and continued her day like normal. She was in the forest, tending to some of the Thestrals, when Harry and his group burst through the trees and mounted them. They refused to let her join them, stating that she was way too young to risk what they were, and took off before she could argue. She immediately alerted Snape, the only person she could think of to semi-trust in that moment. She sat idly until their return, where she was informed of her father's death by Remus Lupin. She cried so hard that she fainted. When she awoke, her mother was by her side, and they wept openly together in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. TBC Category:Slytherin Professors